“What strikes the reader of the long and remarkable record of geographic study in Kentucky is the enthusiasm shown by scholars for doing the research that needed to be done.”
Pradyumna P. Karan
The Evolution of Geographic Thought in America:
A Kentucky Root, 1983, p. 108
The Department of Geography is located within the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Kentucky. Established in 1944, the department has become one of the intellectual centers of advanced geographic scholarship in the United States. Since its founding, nearly 90 people have worked as faculty, about 250 students have earned a Masters degree and about 150 students have earned the PhD. The graduate program offers two residential degrees: the Master of Arts in Geography and the Doctor of Philosophy in Geography. Additionally, there are two online degrees, the Master of Arts in Applied ENS and the Master of Science in Digital Mapping, as well as online Graduate Certificates for both. The undergraduate program offers three degrees: the Bachelor of Arts in Geography, the Bachelor of Science in Geography, and the Interdisciplinary Bachelor of Arts in Environmental and Sustainability Studies. There are also four minors: Geography, Mapping and GIS, Urban Studies, and the Interdisciplinary Minor in Environmental and Sustainability Studies. The department has a physical presence in three places in the campus core: Patterson Office Tower (POT), Young Library, and Miller Hall.
Interested in learning more about events at UK Geography?
Join GEOUPDATES -- a listserv where you can share and make announcements with members of the Geography community. Questions? Contact the Department Manager.
History
Well before the establishment of the department in 1944, geography courses on Physiography, Elements of Geography, Economic Geography, Conservation of Natural Resources, Land Problems, Geography of North America, and Geographic Basis of American History were offered since 1923 in departments of Geology, Economics, History, and Agriculture.
Inclusivity Statement
The University of Kentucky Department of Geography is committed to providing an open, accessible, and supportive learning climate*. We understand that each member of the community (students, faculty, postdocs, and staff) have distinct but equally important roles. As a community, we respect the humanity, dignity, individuality, and freedom of each member, and their distinct contributions to our community. We strive to be a place where individuals and groups learn with and from each other, and we acknowledge that learning may sometimes--if not often--be difficult and uncomfortable. Acceptance flows from a common ground, based on a belief in the acceptance of individuals as human beings. Acceptance of the person is different from acceptance of their viewpoint/agenda. This includes the belief in people’s ability to determine who they shall become (self-determination), their protection from injury, affordance of their equality of opportunity (e.g., access to education, healthcare, food, housing and information about their basic rights), protection of their privacy and well-being, and acknowledgement for their work, through recognition or economic compensation. Read more, here.
Lexington Environs
Central Kentucky's spectacular “natural” environment was deemed to offer unlimited potential for farming and development by eighteenth century explorers and surveyors. By the 1840s travelers visiting the region wrote glowing reports describing the beauty of the rural countryside farms and Lexington’s business and residential districts. It was called the "Athens of the West" and today is the principal city of the Bluegrass Region.
University Campus
The Geography Department is located on the 8th floor of the Patterson Office Tower, with other support areas in Young Library and in Miller Hall. Class is typically held in the Whitehall Classroom Building (currently being renovated). Within a short walk are numerous computing labs, libraries, and lounges.